THEIR STORY

Founded in 1964, and uniquely located in the heart of Australia’s largest high-tech precinct, Macquarie University brings together more than 44,000 students and 3,000 staff in one thriving hub of discovery.

Degrees are co-designed with industry so they’re always informed by the latest industry trends and research discoveries. Practical experiences are embedded across their learning journey.

Macquarie is ranked number one in Australia for graduate employment rate - evidence of their mission to produce graduates who have the knowledge and skills to meet the current and future challenges of their chosen profession.

Which is where Hack The Box comes in.

THEIR GOAL

Alireza Jolfaei is the Program Leader of Master of IT in Cybersecurity at Macquarie University. 

His courses combine theoretical and practical learning in cybersecurity, so Alireza needed to choose a partner that would keep students sharp, engaged and training their practical skills alongside their studies - especially for graduate offensive security roles. 

THEIR SOLUTION

After reviewing the market for possible solutions, Alireza could look no further than Hack The Box. 

The breadth of challenging content as well as regular updates and additions to the collection was the main draw, but also key was the reduction in time he would have to spend creating machines himself.

They use Dedicated Labs to encourage students to get to grips with and learn the techniques required for various aspects of offensive security roles.

But instead of exams at the end of each semester, Alireza also uses Hack The Box to host Capture The Flag events to assess students’ acquired knowledge in a practical, competitive environment alongside their classmates.

“It’s proven to be an extremely effective way of keeping students engaged, with gamified approaches to practical study and friendly competition - all of which contribute to their employability on graduation.”

- Alireza Jolfaei, Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity, Macquarie University

In fact, it’s such a big part of the curriculum that many students continue to subscribe to HTB as individuals, even after graduation, to keep their skills sharp as they enter their first roles in the industry.

THEIR SUCCESS

For Macquarie

• 2,000+ machines spawned or owned by students in 2021 alone

• 8 CTF events hosted including custom content and event support

• Increased uptake of cybersecurity courses year on year

For students

• Improved average grades for students since introduction of HTB

• Increased percentage of students securing graduate roles in cybersecurity

• Classes are full of fun and engaging challenges

“Hack The Box provides an intuitive and fun environment for top-class CTF events, making it easy for students to join, practice and compete. We have had 8 CTFs organized with HTB already and they have been valuable partners both in terms of developing high-quality custom content and providing professional, direct support before and during the CTF event.”

- Alireza Jolfaei, Program Leader of Master of IT in Cybersecurity, Macquarie University

PRODUCTS USED

Dedicated Labs

• Private lab environment and VPN server

• Team and user administration & reporting

• New machines added every week

Capture The Flag

• Private competitive hacking events

• Huge library of content or create-your-own challenges 

• Event support & planning included

HTB Business helps hundreds of universities like Macquaire to attract, train, develop and engage cybersecurity students in a single platform, and we can do it for you too. Get in touch to see how we can help: LET’S TALK

About HTB for Universities

Hack The Box trains the world’s best hackers through our online training platform and rapidly growing hacking community of almost 1,000,000 members worldwide. The platform allows users to practice and level up their cybersecurity skills through a hands-on, self-paced, and gamified learning experience. From hundreds of constantly updated virtual hacking labs to a plethora of interactive courses at HTB Academy, Hack The Box is on a mission to upscale the cybersecurity capabilities of every professional and organization in the world by making cybersecurity training accessible to everyone.